How to Cycle Creatine & NO Products??? HELP!

Hey Everyone,
I donít know about you, but if feels like I have been on products that contain creatine, such as NoShotgun, No-Xplode, and Cellmass, for about 2-3 years straight! I need to get off of them, I know, but what amount of time should I wait until I go back on Creatine EE? I have read that 2 weeks is long enough, I have also read that 6-8 weeks is the appropriate amount of time.

Does anyone have any suggestions, or can speak from experience?

Also, how should I cycle NO products, strictly used as a NO product, not containing creatine?

As far as the creatine goes, I don't think that there is an answer to "should it be cycled?" nevermind a schedule for cycling.

You take creatine until you are saturated, and then keep taking it to stay saturated. Some people think that you should take a week or two off here or there, some just stay on year round.

Creatine CEE may have different guidelines than monohydrate. I've just used mono for years on end. I haven't heard a reason yet to actually go off of it. I know that a lot of folks will just take two weeks off from supps all together, and that's really the only time that they're not taking creatine.

Hopefully some other folks will jump in with info on the NO stuff, I've never been interested in it.

I've only heard positive things about cycling creatine. I would recommend taking a few weeks off every 4-6 months. Even a month off wouldnt hurt. I've never taken anything for 2-3 years non stop like you are mentioning. I usually switch up brands every once in a while.

Some people throw in a 1-2 week break from creatine monohydrate everyonce in awhile. I cycle creatine 3 days on, 3 days off. It's a different method because I'm dosing up to 20g or so per day, then nothing for three days. The idea is to keep creatine stores in an effective range at all times without "burning out." Some evidence suggests that a maintenance dose (5g) loses its effectiveness over time and creatine stores deplete, regardless of the ongoing intake of 5g per day.

It's just one of a few different ways to do it and it pays to experiment a little and see how you react. But this only applies to CM. I feel CEE is pretty worthless, so feel free to take as much as your wallet can handle!

i have a jug of CEE that i ordered a while back but i have yet to have a chance to try it. What made you feel it was worthless? Ive always used mono and figured id give it a shot. Some people seem to have decent results with it.

Yea I did it for a few weeks on its owen in the form on bulk powder and just didn't see any real change in strength, no weight gain nothing. Not to mention it tasted terrible. I did use NeoVar from AN which inslude CEE in its blend to help absorb the CEE ,along with nutrients, into the musle. This did however serve me very nicely.

Would you all that advocate for Mono have a specific brand, or company that sells what you think to be the best product containing Mono? Or do you just buy bulk?

Brand doesn't matter as far as effectiveness. I use Optimum Nutrition, but anything that says "micronized creatine" or has the Creapure trademark is best, in my opinion. The old CM had a tendency to cause some stomach discomfort, but the newer micronized versions don't typically do that.

Yes. CEE didn't do a damn thing for me. CM is tried and true. CEE is just marketing hype, like creatine serum was.

Plus there are a couple studies that indicate CEE converts to creatinine before any creatine is absorbed. Creatinine is not only worthless, but could actually be a dangerous by-product.

On top of that, CEE costs way more than CM. It's a no brainer in my book.

But, hey, to each his own.

actully if your taking enough mono to really do u any good the ee and kreakylyn are going to be a liitle more cost efective, I have used both with great success, but again its still a creatine product not a steroid or a ph so your not gonna see these huge gains that eveyone seems to be looking for when they try all these creatine products. I really enjoyed the Ngorge by ALR it is a EE and NO product. Also the krealkalyn by efx is very good too.

actully if your taking enough mono to really do u any good the ee and kreakylyn are going to be a liitle more cost efective, I have used both with great success, but again its still a creatine product not a steroid or a ph so your not gonna see these huge gains that eveyone seems to be looking for when they try all these creatine products. I really enjoyed the Ngorge by ALR it is a EE and NO product. Also the krealkalyn by efx is very good too.

If you're saying that a certain amount of CEE is more effective than the same amount of CM, then I strongly disagree. The per serving price may be close for bulk CEE and bulk CM, but I'd rather spend $13 on something that works than $30 on something that doesn't.

Plus, I think a lot more people buy the combo CEE/pre-workout products than the bulk CEE, so they are really getting raped. I can make a more effective product with a kilo of CM and a 100 count bottle of 200mg caffeine tablets for under $20.

I would never consider cycling Mono. Unless of course you want to see what you really weigh without the extra water weight. Only thing I cycle off of are stimulant based products. It is cool to take NO for extended periods of time too. I took SP250 for 9 months straight. I always got the pump, but the energy it used to give me went away.

If you have taken creatine, ephedra, or any other supplement non-stop for the past year or so, raise your hand? If you're a serious lifter and you're not raising your hand, then you shame on you. Most serious lifters believe that when they are "off" of supplements that their physiques will literally go down the drain. I firmly believe this because I have encountered many serious lifters who believed that supplements could make or break their physiques.

At one point in time, I was one of these believers. However, I have realized the error of my ways and turned to cycling my supplements. Before I give you examples of supplement cycling, I would like to address a very important biological point. Without getting scientific, the human body is a fascinating piece of biological machinery. It is smart. Smarter than we choose to believe. When our bodies are exposed to exogenous substances such as supplements, alcohol, drugs, etc, it builds a tolerance. This tolerance requires us to consume more and more of the product in order to get the desired effect.

This characteristic stems from receptor attenuation. You see, our body is full of receptors which have the ability to bind to specific receptor agonists and antagonists. Receptor agonists activate the receptors while antagonists do the exact opposite. So the more receptors you flood over the time, the more they become desensitized. This can lead to receptor burnout which can cause a myriad problems. So basically, abuse of a substance is a no-no.

-Cycling Creatine-

Creatine is one of the most popular sports supplements in the industry today. Why? Because it works. I've read countless articles which suggests creatine's effectiveness and not one which suggests that creatine is detrimental to the human body. However, all of the articles I have read involve the use of 20 grams of creatine utilizing a one month on, X amount of time off system. So the subjects all took 20 grams of creatine in divided doses throughout the day for an entire month and then took some time off. The time varied from study to study but for the sake of receptor attenuation, I would take at least 2 weeks off. If you've ever tried creatine, then you will know how quickly you can make gains when you first introduce it to your system.

However, these gains began to diminish over time because your body simply got accustomed to the creatine. Now if you would "cycle" creatine, so to speak, then theoretically, you could make gains similar to the ones you made when you initially began creatine intake. There are numerous ways to cycle creatine and I will suggest a few ways which were successful for me in the past.

20 grams for one month straight divided into four 5 gram doses while taking 2 weeks off in between cycles.
10 grams after working out every day for 6 weeks and then taking 2 weeks off.
5 grams after working out every day for 8 weeks and then taking 2 weeks off.
Now you may cycle your creatine differently and if this different method works for you, then stick with it until it stops working. Remember that I am merely sharing with you some of my successful cycles with creatine.

-Cycling Thermogenics-

Now here is a supplement which I have abused for the past two years and I'm not even sure why. At first, it was for its proposed fat burning properties but later, it became apparent I was using it just to feel normal, whatever that was. The first time I took a thermogenic, I remember feeling this alertness which I have never felt before. What an amazing supplement, or so I thought at the time. If you don't know, thermogenics drain the adrenal glands. The more you use it, the more burned out your adrenals become. It's as simple as that. Now if you're wondering if your adrenals are burned out, there is an easy way to find out. If you get headaches and feel extremely lethargic when you're not taking thermogenics, then your adrenals are burned out. What you have to do now is to assist your adrenals in recovery by eliminating all stimulants from your supplement stack. This includes ephedra, caffeine, etc. Now you should take a lot of Vitamin B5 and siberian ginseng. The first few days are always the hardest because you will feel the urge to take thermogenics but you must resist. Do this for a few weeks to repair your adrenals so that the next time you get on thermogenics, you can maximize your gains.

In order to keep your receptors from desensitizing, you need to cycle thermogenics. I have been very bad with cycling thermogenics since I've incorporated them into my supplement stack but I will tell you that it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the best way to take stimulants is to do sporadically. Here is an effective way to take any thermogenic and to keep your adrenals from burning out.

1. 2-4 thermogenic tabs on training days for 4-6 weeks and then take 2 weeks off from all stimulants.

-Supplements Which Do Not Need Cycling-

Protein, fortunately for bodybuilders, is one of those things which doesn't need to be cycled. You can consume protein to your liking but experts suggest anywhere from 1-2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight in order to maximize muscle gains. I try to consume about 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight because the latter is difficult to do if you want to have something of a life outside of training and eating.

Glutamine, the most abundant free form amino acid in the body, is another supplement which doesn't need cycling. Glutamine, whether you choose to believe it or not, is extremely important. If you don't believe me, then read some literature on glutamine because I don't want to sit here and walk you through its many uses.

Multivitamins and antioxidants also fall into this category. If you aren't taking one, you should and you should do it all of the time. Most of us can't get enough of the vitamins and minerals just from the foods we eat and a supplement is the best way to overcome this. There are a few other supplements which I believe do not need to be cycled but these three are the most important. Taking these three year round can only benefit you.

-Cycling Supplements-

All supplements, just like creatine and thermogenics, should be cycled because of receptor attenuation. If you aren't cycling your supplements, then maybe it's time you thought about what you're doing to your body. Remember, it's better to train and supplement smart than to do it blindly. Train hard, train smart, think BIG - Dr X

I would never consider cycling Mono. Unless of course you want to see what you really weigh without the extra water weight. Only thing I cycle off of are stimulant based products. It is cool to take NO for extended periods of time too. I took SP250 for 9 months straight. I always got the pump, but the energy it used to give me went away.

Well, you should consider it. See the post from gsrhtch. It's right on.

Well, you should consider it. See the post from gsrhtch. It's right on.

Sorry, this was a personal opinion. I have tried both ways and got the same results. Everyone is different. If I were currently taking creatine and had been on it for an extended period of time, I may consider it after reading the above post.

Sorry, this was a personal opinion. I have tried both ways and got the same results. Everyone is different. If I were currently taking creatine and had been on it for an extended period of time, I may consider it after reading the above post.